The Best Pizza // Franco Manca

Today I found myself in the West End, and after a very long walk, my dad, my sister and myself at around 1:30 were feeling particularly peckish, and being in Covent Garden we couldn't help popping into Franco Manca for a quick pizza stop. I've been to Franco Manca many times in the past, and their  sourdough based pizzas are too good to be true.

My sister and I ordered lemonades, which come in these adorable bottles and a straw, and the lemonade itself is incredible, sweet, lemony, and gingery all at the same time. I ordered the number 4 - Ham and Wild Mushroom while my sister opted for the garlic bread and my dad the number 6 - chorizo.

We then wandered to the number 11 bus stop, trying to get home before our food coma began ;).

Gluten free Gingerbread Men

Hey there! So today I thought I would share with you lovely people a baking recipe, and as the were getting closer to winter I thought a gingerbread recipe would be a good thing to do. As I try to be gluten free most of the recipes I put up on my blog will be, but most of the time you can just swap the gluten free flour for normal flour, and take out the xanthan gum and it will be exactly the same.

Ingredients:
210g gluten free plain flour
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
170g light brown sugar
90g unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Writing icing for decoration

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees celsius. In a large bowl whisk together the plain flour, xanthan gum, ground cinnamon and ground ginger. Then add the brown sugar and whisk it enough so you have no lumps. Create a well in the centre of your bowl and add the butter, honey, egg and vanilla, and whisk it all together. You should end up with a really sticky and thick dough. Next make space on your work surface and dust some flour onto it then roll out the mixture to about 8-10mm thick. Then using your cookie cutter cut out your gingerbread men and put them onto a tray which has baking paper on it. Then put them into your freezer until they're firm, which is about 13-15 minutes. Then put them straight into the oven for 10 minutes. Once they're cooked leave them to cool for about 20 minutes and then put them onto a rack and ice them to add some decoration if you wish.

I hope you enjoyed making those cookies more then I did, and that they tasted delicious. In the past I haven't done any baking posts but I will do the odd one from now on, if these were a success among you guys.

My Tips for Healthier Looking Skin

Hey there! So today I thought I would have a little chat about one of my favourite topics, skincare, and my tips for looking after it in natural ways which will benefit your skin. I realise that I am in no way a "skincare expert", but when my skin isn't feeling it's best, this maybe due to stress, tiredness or "that time of the month", I follow these tips and they help it, so hopefully they will be beneficial for you too.

Tip 1: Wear make-up minimally
When you're skin isn't looking or feeling too great it's probably because it's being very sensitive, and by shoving make-up onto your face will just make matters worse. Being still in school I rarely wear make-up and when I do I still wear it very minimally. But if you're someone who wears it on a regular basis just tone down how much you're putting on, obviously this just concerns base make-up like foundation, concealer, powder etc. If you're still desperate to wear some make-up (because I know some people just like the feeling of putting it on) stick to a little bit of concealer as a base, and unless you've got problems around you're eyes probably some mascara and eyeshadow too. My favourite concealer to wear is the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, this concealer is really great at making your under eye area look a little more awake and also hide whatever blemishes you may have, without irritating the skin. It's really good value too being a drugstore product, which is always a plus.

Tip 2: Drink lots of water and non caffeinated drinks
Water is such a good thing to drink when you're skin is not so good, it's 100% natural and detoxes your body inside and out, making you feel and look glowier, if that makes sense. I know a lot of people aren't a fan of straight up water, so a way of making your water taste a little bit better is by adding some slices of lime. By adding lime it makes your water taste a little more citrusy and interesting. Another drink I'd recommend drinking is a sort of green tea instead of your classic English Breakfast which contains lots of caffeine which just goes straight to your skin giving you spots. My favourite sort of non caffeinated tea is Peppermint tea, and in particular the Pukka Three Mint Tea, it tastes so yummy and minty, and is a great thing to drink to make your skin look a little clearer.

Tip 3: Use more natural products on your face
When it comes to face masks there is one brand I look to; Lush. Their face masks are natural, and made out of ingredients which will be sure to benefit you're skin. One of my favourite face masks from Lush is Catastrophe Cosmetic, which is calming, cleansing and moisturising for your skin. It is packed full of blueberries, calamine, chamomile, rose and almond oils, to sooth and soften your skin. It's also really amazing at just cleansing your skin and getting rid of all the bacteria in it. Another product I love using from Lush is Movis and it's lush's only facial soap. It is full of cocoa butter, wheatgerm oil, hop oil and coconut oil to soften and exfoliate your skin with a cleansing feel. In general Lush is known to make really natural products which will benefit your body, so I'd definitely recommend checking the shop out.

My Autumn Scent

Hey there! Long time no see! Today I thought inspired by the autumnal weather outside my window to share with you lovely people the scent which I've been absolutely loving so far this autumn. And the scent is fig.

To a lot of people you might think the scent from a fig might be odd but it actually smells amazing! If you're a fan of the white company you'll know they do a Fresh Fig scent, so I decided to get the shower gel and body lotion. If I'm being honest with you I did originally buy them for my mum, but I just seem to wander in her bathroom on a regular occasion and steal them. Sorry mum! Anyway it is quite a strong, slightly woody, sweet, bright scented fig smell which will be sure to wake you up in the morning. The products themselves are really luxurious and feel really softening a cleansing on the skin.

The other fig scented product which I absolutely adore is from Campagnie de Provence, which is a French brand which I hadn't actually ever heard of until I went into Indian Summer which is a shop on the Fulham Road, and I fell in love with the brand. The product which I went for was the Creme pour les mains extra pure figue, which translates into hand cream extra pure fig of provence. Again the scent is of fig, but this one is more earthy than the one from the white company. The product itself is really moisturising and feels very light when I put it on, I'd definitely recommend checking the brand out.